


Champion of Skyhold

by Dgcakes (ficsnfun)



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age II, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-21
Updated: 2015-07-31
Packaged: 2018-04-10 09:46:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,081
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4387103
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ficsnfun/pseuds/Dgcakes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Aeyin Hawke, when attempting to save his friend, ends up with the Mark and has to help the Inquisition in the fight against evil.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Something about this situation wasn’t right. It wasn’t the being in a strange dark room surrounded by guards - that honestly almost seemed familiar. It wasn’t being randomly in pain - that was also pretty familiar, though usually attributed to the armed guards and random freak problems in the life of a mage. No what Aeyin Hawke realized felt so damn wrong about this situation was that the glow dancing just off the edge of his vision was the wrong color.

If something was glowing near him, it’d usually have been one of his friends - Fenris and Anders both glowed blue in a fight, so it definitely wasn’t them. Both Fenris and Merrill’s eyes tended to glow green at night as well, but that was the absolutely wrong shade of green. Opening his eyes a crack, Aeyin was brought face to face with his own hand as the source of the glow - and the pain he’d been feeling. This was - this was very very wrong. And for the life of him he couldn’t remember how he got here.

As he was trying to process this out, the door to the dark cell he was in opened and a pair of rather imposing women stormed in. For a moment, the build and stance almost made him think of Aveline, but she lacked the plates of Guard Captain and this definitely didn’t feel like Kirkwall - hadn’t he been in Ferelden most recently anyway? Aeyin can’t have slept through a whole trip across the Waking Sea, right?

He squinted up at the ones before him and heard a muffled gasp from the second. As his eyes trained in on her features, the mage was suddenly realizing exactly where he recognized her from. Sister Nightengale - Leliana - left hand of the Divine, and someone Hawke hadn’t seen in years. Why was she even here? Why was he even here? Her gasp hinted that she’d only just recognized him so he can’t have been captured for being Champion, right?

“Tell me why I shouldn’t kill you now.” the accent on the warrior made her distinction from Aveline that much clearer, though the tone definitely seemed the same. She had circled around behind him and was leaning close as she spoke.

“Because that…would defeat the purpose of keeping me alive this long? I don’t know really…” Aeyin blinked up at her, trying to make out this person’s features even as she circled around him. Why would she even ask him that? How was he supposed to know why she was keeping him alive?

She let out a low growl, striding back around in front of him. “The Conclave was destroyed - everyone is dead. Except for you.” There was venom in her tone as she all but spat the words at him.

Honey eyes widened in surprise and horror. Aeyin felt like he’d just been drenched in ice water. “WHAT? But why - what? Is anyone helping the refugees? The injured?” he was panicking, any confusion over what he was doing lost as the reality of the situation sank in. “Look, I don’t know what you want of me or what’s going on or why my hand is glowing, but I’ll do whatever I can to help. I’m a mage, I can heal some or help transport injured. I don’t - I don’t remember how I got here and I don’t know who you are, but if you want me to help, please, tell me what you need of me.”

Leliana stepped closer to him, searching his face, “What were you even doing here?” she asked, voice low. Did she suspect him? He wouldn’t blame her - after all, this is the second time something major involving the Chantry blew up in his presence.

“I don’t remember very well.” his face screwed up as he tried to fathom just why he’d been near the Conclave. “I was investigating something in Ferelden then…I heard something, I had to go look into it. It wasn’t related to this, it was just about a friend in danger. Then there’s a gap and I can remember running? Something…chasing me? And someone…a woman? Reaching for me but then-” Aeyin shook his head and made a frustrated growl, “I’m sorry, Sister Nightengale, I have NOTHING. I don’t even remember clearly who it was I wanted to help.”

Face shrouded in shadow, it was hard to tell what Leliana was thinking about this. It seemed the warrior couldn’t tell either.

“Do you know this person, Leliana?” her tone was gruff, but lighter than it had been talking to Aeyin.

Leliana peered at him once more before nodding, “I do. I need to look into some other information first, however.”

“Go to the forward camp, then. I will take him to the Rift.” the warrior turned her attention back to Aeyin, moving closer to change how his hands were tied so they could travel easier.

He kept his mouth shut, following along after the fighter without complaint. Her fury over the Conclave’s explosion made perfect sense and at least she wasn’t threatening to kill any mages in her presence. Honestly, just wanting answers from the one jackass who’d somehow managed to survive with a weird mark on his hand was pretty…logical. It sucked, but it made sense really.

Aeyin’s attention was drawn away from the situation the moment they were outside and he was able to see the massive green hole in the sky. The warrior who had brought him was explaining it, but honestly, he was too floored and horrified to even process the words. That was a HOLE in the fucking SKY. A massive, horrible green glowing WHATEVER that was the same color as the glow on his hand. And just as he was thinking it, the damn thing ‘grew’ and his hand lit up, sending shocks of pain all through his body and bringing Hawke to his knees.

A series of inarticulate cursewords - or attempts at them - left Aeyin’s mouth, though he tried to shut up when the warrior came to speak to him once more. He still couldn’t hear her very well, especially over the rush of pain and the blood pounding in his ears. The only part he could even make out was ‘it may be the key to stopping this’.

“Come on then, let’s get on with this.” Aeyin grit his teeth, struggling to get back on his feet. Some random problem that it was inexplicably up to him to fix, just another day in his life really.

“Then…?” there was hope in her eyes, and her voice, and it reminded him so much of home, of friends and loved ones who could be completely cold and even nasty till the moment they were shown any shred of decency. That she’d really thought he wouldn’t be willing to help hurt, but it wasn’t unexpected.

Aeyin sighed, “I said I would do whatever I could to help, and I mean it. There’s a massive hole in the sky and people are dying and if I can fix that, I will.”

She pulled him up to his feet with great strength - really, Aeyin was way too used to being hauled around by warriors half his height, he just went with it, following her direction with ease. She was shorter than him - somewhere between Fenris and Aveline in her stature - but he made no efforts to tower over her. The pain was too great and the gazes of the disapproving, angry and frightened public, had him bowing his head and looking away. Not that he really wanted to go looming over someone who could kick his ass that thoroughly anyway but still.

“They have decided your guilt, they need it.” she muttered as they walked through the masses of Haven, guiding him with a rough hand on his arm.

“What else is new?” Aeyin mumbled softly. “I get this reaction a lot, let them do what they need to.” these people weren’t even close to as vitriolic as Kirkwallers had been to him at points.

“The people of Haven mourn our Most Holy, Divine Justinia, head of the Chantry. The Conclave was hers. It was a chance for peace between Mages and Templars. She brought their leaders together. Now they are dead. We lash out like the sky, but we must think beyond ourselves, as she did, until the breach is sealed.”

The pit of his stomach dropped out and Aeyin tried to hold in the wince at those words. Of course, the thing he showed up during and somehow ruined was the chance to end the war he was party to helping start. A chance for peace for so many, a chance to end the bloodshed. Instead there was a hole in the sky, more death and chaos, and he was at the center of it once more.

He didn’t even notice when they’d stopped and she’d cut the bonds on his wrists. “There will be a trial. I can promise no more.” she turned away once more. “Come, it is not far.”

A trial was honestly far better than he probably deserved. After the Chantry explosion, it was his friends and good people who had helped him that had been the only reason Aeyin had survived and managed to escape Kirkwall. Now, he was here in much the same situation - maybe the Maker or whatever powers were in charge, were finally making sure Aeyin Hawke answered for the things he had done and how badly he’d failed his friends and loved ones.

His loved ones. Most of them would be so disappointed to see him get mixed up in this. Aveline and Sebastian would probably sigh heavily at him. Isabela and Merrill would likely just be a bit sad. Fenris would be livid. Carver would probably want to wring his neck. And Varric…?

Varric. The memories swirled back to his mind just as the Breach sent another shot of pain through him and he collapsed to his knees. His best friend - that’s why he was here to begin with. Someone had captured Varric, for whatever reason, and Hawke had come to try and rescue the dwarf from them. Now…was he even alive? Had he been dragged to the Conclave and if so…had it been because of his association with Aeyin? So many people he loved died because of him. It was too much.

The warrior helped him up, and was trying to explain something about the Breach and rifts and demons to him again, but he shook his head. “I’m not really thinking clearly right now, I’m sorry. Let’s just get this done with. I’m way more useless than usual when in pain, I’m sorry.” he tried not to stumble when he started walking again, out of breath and aching but forging ahead anyway. He hoped the tears on his face wouldn’t cloud his vision too damn much. There was shit to do. Hawke could mourn potentially lost friends some other time.

They continued onwards, till they reached a bridge that a falling green mass from the Breach utterly decimated. How something falling from the sky could just DO THAT was beyond him. But there wasn’t time to worry about that - his companion had drawn her sword and shield, rushing forward to face a demon that had sprang up from the ground, calling for Hawke to stay behind her. Well that was all well and good till another demon started to sprout right in front of him.

Looking about, he spotted a staff in the rubble and kicked it into his hands. She was probably going to give him hell for this but that was probably better than her getting flanked by demons. With a swift burst of magic he launched the shade back towards the warrior herself, pushing it there so it stayed where she could reach it, same as he would with Aveline. Keep it where the tank was and hit from a distance.

Within moments both demons had fallen and she was rounding on him. The staff fell from his hands easily and Aeyin held his palms up, before she’d even managed to finish saying ‘drop your weapon’. “No problem, don’t worry. I just wanted to keep us from getting flanked.”

“Wait…” she sighed, sheathing her blade. “I cannot protect you, and I cannot expect you to be defenseless. I…should remember you agreed to come willingly.”

Once more, Aeyin kicked the staff back up into his hand. He smiled warmly, walking by her once more. “Don’t worry about getting gruff with me - I’m more than used to it. You’re doing your job, that’s all. Let’s get to this Rift thing you want me to try and close.”

“Should I be worried that you are used to such things?” she returned his smile hesitantly, “Being disliked by crowds, interrogated, treated like a criminal. These are not generally things a person should be accustomed to.”

“Ask Sister Nightengale about me sometime. She probably has a way better explanation than I do. Everyone always talks about me way better than I do.”

Fighting demons along the path was at least a great distraction from worrying about Varric, about what had happened to him. He had to deal with this Rift thing, and the Breach, then he could focus on his friends and loved ones and self-pity crap. However, his thoughts were apparently not meant to be left alone.

As they neared a Rift and his companion mentioned being able to hear fighting, Aeyin had tried to focus in on it to direct himself. What he heard, among the clash of swords, was the telltale clicks and gear-clinks of one particular crossbow. The mage’s eyes widened and he turned, taking the nearby flight of stone steps two at a time, till he reached a landing overlooking the fight. There before him was a green rift in the air and demons fighting soldiers - and among the group, one specific dwarf with a crossbow.

There were barely any demons left by the time he and the warrior joined the group, but they made quick work of the rest. Aeyin looked at the changes in the strange green ‘Rift’ before him, watching how it had gone more open than the crystalline form it’d had moments before. He didn’t have time to ponder it as a bald elf grabbed hold of his wrist and thrust the marked hand right at the thing.

“Well, that sure was a thing.” he commented, watching the rift vanish from the air with all of the drama of an offended Orlesian party-goer. “Guess we know it works now.”

The elf - who looked like both the most comfortably dressed guy ever, and the least, given the weather - was talking, trying to explain something about the Breach and the mark, but Aeyin was only partly listening, glancing over his shoulder at Varric. His accented warrior guard was talking to this elf so at least someone was paying the guy attention. Aeyin heavily considered if he should acquire a sign to wear that just read ‘Usually paying no attention’.

It wasn’t till the familiar low tones of Varric’s voice picked up that his attention returned. “Good to know. Here I thought we’d be ass deep in demons forever.” The dwarf approached the party, reciting an introduction as best he could - because that’s the way he got a leg up on any conversation. A charming introduction after a heated scene did wonders to keep people placated. “Varric Tethras. Rogue, storyteller, also occasionally unwelcome tagalong.” The last one featured a sly look at the warrior to Aeyin’s side and there was probably a story behind that.

It was clear Varric was doing more to take in the scene and the group as a whole and not just Aeyin himself - after all, the armor was different than usual, being a prisoner’s garb, and he had no reason to suspect it would be him. But the second Varric’s gaze actually reached his face and met the man’s eyes, his demeanor shifted. Watching the dwarf go slackjaw and seeing his pupils dilate in shock was certainly a rare enough sight. If he weren’t still riding high on the relief of his best friend being alive, Aeyin might have been more concerned about how shocked Varric looked that he was here, but really. The rogue being alive was the most important point here.

“Nice to meet you, Varric.” the mage made a dramatic bow as a joke, just waiting for that recognition to sink in before he responded. Being a little shit to your best friends in tense situations just to wring a laugh out of them, now that was the stuff dreams were made of.

Beside him, the bald elf was speaking again, “You may come to regret that,” but he stopped the moment Aeyin reached out and heaved Varric up into a massive hug.

The dwarf was usually not a ‘leave the ground’ sort of guy, but in this case, he merely wrapped his arms tightly around Aeyin’s shoulders and hugged him back. “You bastard, you weren’t supposed to be here. You were supposed to be anywhere else, but not here.” there was a hitch in Varric’s voice that only came out sometimes, usually followed by a suggestion to get as far away from whatever situations was affecting him emotionally.

“You know me, can’t stay out of trouble for a minute.” Aeyin laughed, hugging his friend for a moment longer before setting Varric back down. “Come on now, Varric, don’t let Bianca see you cry.” He ruffled the dwarf’s ponytail a bit to tease him.

“Yeah yeah. She’s going to be great company in the valley, at least.” he swatted away Aeyin’s hand just as the warrior decided to intervene.

“Absolutely not! Your help is appreciated, Varric but-”

“Have you been in the valley lately, Seeker? Your soldiers aren’t in control anymore. You need me.” Varric called her Seeker - wait as in Seeker Pentaghast? The one who’d captured him to begin with? That…honestly made a lot of sense now. The disgusted noise she made at Varric also spoke of someone who had gotten way too used to the dwarf’s ability to talk his way into anything important.

The bald elf seemed to be taking everything in stride at least, smiling a bit at Aeyin, finally managing to grab his attention for a moment. “My name is Solas, if there are to be introductions. I’m pleased to see you still live.”

“That’s a kinda morbid greeting, but thank you?” Aeyin felt a little less at ease with Solas than he had with the Seeker - he knew plenty of warriors who acted like her about problems, but he’d never met two mages alike in his life. At least he was attempting to be nice?

Varric snorted, “He means ‘I kept that mark from killing you while you slept’.” There was some level of derision in his tone that hinted to some of his protective tendencies. After all, Varric may try to hide it, but he went a great deal out of his way to keep people from hurting his friends, and this was all pretty shady.

“Oh, uh, cool then. You seem to know a lot about this mark thing, huh?” Aeyin smiled at the elf once more, just keeping polite conversation going at this point. At least hopefully SOMEONE knew something about the damn mark.

The Seeker seemed to have input on this as well, “Like you, Solas is an apostate, well-versed in such matters.”

“Technically now all mages are apostates, Cassandra.” Solas was quick to point out, even as Aeyin turned to raise a brow at her.

“I’m a pretty damn apostate-y apostate, and I don’t know a damn thing about this, so I’m not going to chalk him knowing about it up to just all that, thanks.” Hawke gave her a playful smile and turned back to Solas once more, grinning a bit.

Solas didn’t quite laugh, but he did keep his pleasant tone, “My travels have allowed me to learn much of the Fade. Far beyond the experience of any Circle Mage. I came to offer whatever help I can with the Breach. If it is not closed, we are all doomed, regardless of origin.”

Something about his tone against Circle Mages sat funny with Aeyin, but he shrugged it off. He’d known plenty in and out of Circles and that was neither here nor there. “And what’s the plan once this is over?” Aeyin gave a sly smirk on that one. All apostates knew offering to help in things - especially with the Chantry - was a dangerous line to walk.

“One hopes those in power will remember who helped - and who did not.” Solas’s smile grew there, a bit of mirth at the situation.

Glancing down at Varric, Aeyin bounced his brows a bit. “Because they always remember that now don’t they?” he teased.

Solas and Cassandra were having some sort of discussion about him being a mage again, but Varric was his main focus once more. The dwarf shook his head, trying to force a smile, but trepidation was written all over his form. When the other two set off ahead of them, he finally spoke up. “Well…Bianca’s excited?”

“Then we’re already doing better than the Deep Roads.” Aeyin pointed out with a smirk, patting Varric’s shoulder and heading onwards.


	2. Chapter 2

“You had nothing to do with what happened, right?” Varric asked him, tentatively, as they hit another lull between demon battles, having just closed a rift. “This is just more just your insanely bad luck rearing its head again?”

“I certainly hope I had nothing to do with it. I may have a gap in my memory between ‘go look for friend in danger’ and ‘wake up in prison cell’ but I’m pretty positive I’m not that stupid or malicious? I’m certainly that unlucky though…” Aeyin reached back, pulling his messy curls back into a ponytail - they kept coming loose with all this fighting.

Varric pressed his face into his palm. “Did you seriously tell the Seeker that? Have I taught you nothing about spinning stories to get out of things?”

“That’s what YOU would do.” Cassandra barked from nearby, cleaning some demon gunk off her blade before sheathing it.

The dwarf crossed his arms over his chest, giving her a dirty look, “It’s more believable! And less likely to lead to premature executions.”

Aeyin pat Varric’s shoulder reassuringly, “You may have trained me to be snarky, but you know exactly who trained me to be absolutely truthful in the face of pissed off warriors.” Or rather, the several people who had trained him into that. His ‘big sister’, his beloved, his brother, what warriors did he know that didn’t need him to be absolutely honest with them?

That got him a dramatic sigh from his friend and a shake of his head. “They’re all going to kill you when they find out about this, you know that, right?”

“Well I mean if it’s a choice between being killed now by the awful painful hand glowy and being killed later by my frustrated loved ones, I’m going to have to go with later. Despite how tempting it is.” Hawke got back on the path, striding ahead to the entrance to the forward camp.

The camp itself was mostly just a bunch of assholes crowding around on a bridge, and rather immediately Cassandra went up to talk to some Chantry dude and Leliana. Already, the guy wanted Hawke dragged off for execution and Aeyin was just so tired of this bullshit. Yeah yeah, you do something useful for us or you die, or you do something useful AND you die. Either way, screw you, Hawke.

After a while of the arguing between the group in front of him, Aeyin interjected, “Can we please focus on dealing with the giant gaping skyhole instead of whatever pissing contest this is?” he gestured with his good hand at the group. This was stupid, really. Kirkwall had been stupider things, but still.

This didn’t seem to help the arguing any, except maybe add arguing about retreating to the mix. Because obviously if they dragged him this far, made him close rifts along the way, proved that actually worked, now was the time to say fuckit, pack up and go home. Give up the world for lost, we’ll just have to get used to the colossal demon-spilling butthole in the sky. They really needed to knock this off. His hand throbbing and sending him into spasms whenever the damn Breach acted up was doing nothing to help his mood either, but this circle jerk was making it worse.

Round about the time Aeyin was ready to give up and just ask Varric if he wanted to play some Diamondback, the conversation shifted around to actually doing something. Namely, trying to sort out whether or not to take a pass through the mountains, or going ahead with the soldiers. And the reason it shifted? Was so Cassandra could ask him what to do. Because having the mark - and just virtue of being Hawke and having that kind of shitty luck - he was now in charge of this.

“I don’t know. I have no frame of reference here. Just go with the soldiers, I guess. I know nothing about this mountain pass that you may or may not have lost contact with people on. Let’s go the way we know will actually get there and send a search party or something for the people in the pass. I don’t understand your resource management.” Aeyin made a bit of a flailing motion, which probably looked extra silly with the green glowing hand and all.

For better or for worse, the decision was made. Thankfully, the trip itself was uneventful, though the Temple decided to make up for it. There was a big rift, just inside, not even the main one they were meant to close and it was already spewing demons with gusto. Though really, excessive amounts of demons were just seeming like a thing to get used to at this point. It’s probably why he honed in way more on the slightly familiar blonde head of a man fighting in the temple.

The familiar tugged at the edge of his mind, but there was a fight to be had and a rift to close, so that kept Aeyin’s attention far better. It wasn’t until afterwards, when the man started addressing Cassandra, that the little feeling of familiar became an icebucket of ‘oh dammit’ dropped over his head.

“Lady Cassandra, you managed to close the Rift? Well done.”

Really? REALLY DUDE? He was RIGHT HERE. He was right here, green and fucking glowing, all 6’7” of him and this ass REALLY had the audacity to treat him like he wasn’t there? But of course, that voice - and now that face - made it slightly clearer exactly who this was and that just made things slightly more bullshit.

Cassandra managed to take a major leap into his good graces, then, by immediately correcting the man. “Do not congratulate me, Commander. This is the Prisoner’s doing.” She turned to Hawke, which, while she was still referring to him by that title, was still better than not acknowledging what he was doing at all.

“Is it?” ‘Commander’ Cullen - formerly Knight Captain Cullen, as Aeyin had known him, looked over at him with an almost cursory stare, opening up his mouth to speak, and then closing it, lips forming a thin line. Their eyes met for a moment and the two exchanged a long-suffering glance.

“Hi.” Aeyin’s tone managed to drop to a deadpan. In previous years, he might have been glad to drop in and say hello to the Knight Captain, since that tended to keep him in pleasant spirits and less likely to lash out at wayward mages, but right about now just felt like a shitty time to run into him. Oh sure, Hawke and his loved ones had had to go on the run, but Cullen had practically walked into promotions and apparently some new position as Commander here.

Face buried in a gauntleted palm, Cullen let out a heavy sigh. “Why not? Just what we needed…” he grumbled, then waved his other hand, “We’ve lost a lot of good people getting you here.”

“Damned if I do, damned if I don’t.” Aeyin grumbled, putting his hands on his hips, “I’m here, I’m trying, that’s what you get out of me.” 

Cullen’s tone was still gruff, cold. “We’ll see soon enough, won’t we?”

For his attitude, Aeyin stuck his tongue out at him, and got an eyeroll in return, though Cullen did smirk a bit more. Really, he should know by now that impossible nonsense he was randomly thrown into was what Hawke did best with. Generally because he didn’t have a choice, but still.

Cullen sighed, trying to relax some, “The way to the temple should be clear. Leliana will try to meet you there.”

“Then we’d best move quickly. Give us time, Commander.” Cassandra, at least, seemed to actually be trying to do a good job for morale here, barking as she could be. It was appreciated - at least by Hawke, anyway.

Aeyin raised his brows and gave Cullen a wry smirk and a shrug before turning and heading towards the burning temple. The man grumbled something about the Maker watching over them and was off, helping some of his men get out of there.

The amount of social interaction it was taking just to close this damn Breach was really getting draining on Hawke. He’d been a very social person once, he was sure of it, someone who adored being around people more than anything else. But time on the run and vicious pains from the Mark were sapping anything and everything he had. And it didn’t matter how used he got to everyone hating him and jerking him around, it could still be exhausting.

“I just want this to be done with.” he mumbled at Varric, staring at the glowing green mass before them.

With a heavy huff of breath, Varric laid a hand on Aeyin’s arm, “I know…believe me, I know.”

The Breach itself was the most daunting part, but honestly, at least he wouldn’t have to talk to it. There kept being groups of people swirling and talking around him, and the ground was littered with debris and horrifying burnt corpses, but concentrating on the big massive green rift was the best he could do. It wasn’t till yet another familiar voice filled the room that Aeyin halted in his tracks, full of shivers.

“Are you alright?” Varric was close at his heel. Cassandra and Solas were discussing the voice too, but thankfully they didn’t notice Aeyin panicking so clearly at it.

His face scrunched up and he tried to concentrate on the rift again. “I know that voice, but I don’t know where. I don’t know why. It’s all fuzzy.”

Trying to focus forward again, that’s when he saw it, and threw an arm forward in front of Varric to keep him back, just out of instinct. No. No. Not weird familiar voices and that on top of it. Shit, shit, shit, shit, what had HAPPENED here? Why was there red lyrium in the Temple? Why was there so MUCH of it? He hadn’t seen spikes this big since the Primeval Thaig. His stomach was beginning to churn horribly.

“You know this stuff is Red Lyirum, Seeker.” Varric hissed, stepping back as soon as Hawke had put his hand out. Normally he might have made a joke about Aeyin playing protective mother hen over his friend, but not right now - not with that shit.

Cassandra seemed nonplussed, “I see it, Varric.”

“But what’s it doing here?” the dwarf’s voice held such an odd tone - he hated this stuff as much as Aeyin did, if not more.

For his part, Solas seemed to be trying to actually analyze the situation, which wasn’t so much what was called for, but it was good of him anyway. “Magic could have drawn on lyrium beneath the Temple, corrupted it…”

Varric didn’t seem to appreciate the analysis. “It’s evil. Whatever you do, don’t touch it.” Which seemed the most sensible thing anyone had said all day.

Further in, they heard the voice of the potential perpetrator again, as well as another voice that caused Aeyin’s mind to twitch at the familiarity. A woman with an accent calling for help - and behind him, Cassandra gasped.

“That is Divine Justinia’s voice!” she said, and picked up her pace.

Aeyin darted ahead with her, hopping down from a small landing and landing in front of the large crystalline green space that was the Rift. The mark on his hand began to sparkle and glow with power, reacting to the Rift, but much less painfully than when it acted up at the Breach. Once more, the voices began to play, first Justinia’s calling for help…then his own.

“That was your voice…” Cassandra started, staring at him, “Most Holy called out to you. But…” Whatever through that was ended up cut off by more fancy riftwork.

Darkness spread from the Rift and figures began appearing. But Aeyin was quickly finding himself unable to concentrate on the visions before him. There was a scene playing out, and he was trying to watch, trying to focus on that familiar dark shape, but everything felt wrong and his head throbbed strangely. There was something keeping him from focusing. The air around him felt compressed, choking him and Hawke doubled over, trying not to vomit.

“Hawke!” Varric rushed to his side. His voice had been muffled by those of the visions - what most everyone seemed to be focused on. But with his head being like this, it was much easier for Aeyin to zero in on his friend’s concern than anything else.

Cassandra’s rough, desperately angry voice returned at the edge of his consciousness right before she pulled him back up from being doubled over. “So you WERE there! Who attacked? And the Divine is she…?” she trailed off, not wanting to get too hopeful. “Was this vision true? What are we seeing?”

The man spread his arms wide, “I don’t know! I could barely watch whatever that was!” People needed to stop asking him things already. Or his head needed to stop preventing him from answering. One of the two.

Varric made an annoyed noise beside him, “He isn’t lying, Seeker. You saw it yourself, whoever or whatever that was had the Divine, he tried to help her and whatever that thing was attacked.” He was glaring up at her and trying to step in front of Aeyin a bit.

“Echoes of what happened here. The Fade bleeds into this place.” Solas was a calm about this, at least. He seemed to have some idea of what he was doing. “This Rift isn’t sealed, but it is closed, albeit temporarily. I believe that with the Mark, I believe the Rift can be opened and then sealed properly and safely. However, opening the Rift will likely attract attention from the other side.”

Hawke was looking down at Varric and mumbling what turned out to be the exact words Cassandra was shouting - “That means demons.” It at least made Varric laugh some that it looked like Aeyin sounded like Cassandra, which was nice. Because fighting more demons - likely bigger and stronger ones for this kind of Rift - did not sound nice at all.

“A fight and a big ol’ sealing of horrible magic. Why not.” Aeyin spread his hands, looking up at the thing and pulling out his staff. It gave the forces they’d brought with them time to get in position, at least. “Let’s get this over with.”

This was going to suck.


	3. Chapter 3

This was certainly not the first time in his life that Aeyin had found himself rousing in a bed, not truly awake, but with some impression he should be getting up anyway. His vision was still blurry and his entire body ached, but at least he had feeling in his hand again - that was good, right? He was too used to some level of minimum recovery being all he got before he had to get back on task.

Sitting up, he felt a strong pair of hands on his chest, trying to push him back down, then moving to steady him instead when that didn’t work.

“Hawke, you don’t have to - you’re still recovering, go back to sleep.” Varric’s voice was hoarse, shaky, but still familiar.

Aeyin chuckled weakly, “Since when is sleeping in at all a part of my day? I’ll be fine, seriously.” He nudged the dwarf away, still bleary-eyed but able to make out just enough to start getting up again.

“Dammit, Hawke, this isn’t Kirkwall! You aren’t responsible for everyone else’s shit! You shouldn’t even be here.” the slight hitch in his voice, the hints of panic caught Aeyin’s attention and he gazed firmly at Varric, but was waved off for his efforts. “Never mind…just, don’t strain yourself too hard, okay?”

The mage chuckled at that, standing on unsteady legs and leaning on a nearby table to get his balance back. “I won’t, I promise. I’m probably just going to go check in with Cassandra or someone, and get an update on how much people are out for my blood. When I was last conscious everyone wanted me dead, but what else is new?” he gave Varric a sly grin.

With a shake of his head, Varric went back to the seat he’d been occupying by the fire, just pointing at the door. “Knowing her, probably still in the Chantry arguing with that Chancellor guy. And Hawke? Just…try to stay on her good side.”

Outside was kind of fucking cold. There was snow on the ground but it lacked the chilly winds of the Frostbacks at least. People were clustered outside the house he’d been resting in, muttering to each other and staring. At this point, people talking about him under their breath wasn’t anything new, so the more pressing matter was scanning the horizon for the Chantry - which was kind of easy to spot - and heading that way.

The whole way there, he could hear mutters of ‘its him!’, but that sort of thing had been normal since the Arishok fight, so he tuned it out. The first thing he actually paid attention to was a loud argument taking place actually inside a private room of the Chantry. Even with the door sealed, the sound was barely muffled and he could make out the shreds of the Seeker’s voice as well as the Chancellor’s.

Aeyin knocked on the door as he entered and meandered in, still too tired for this nonsense but feeling obligated to deal with it. The restlessness that came from his life in Kirkwall and his subsequent life on the run had really done a number on Hawke and the continual state of partial attention and barest recovery was not doing him any favors. Still, it made it a lot easier not to jump to a fighting stance the second the guy - Roderick or something, wasn’t that his name? - tried to order the Templars guarding the room to take him into custody. He was in no state to fight Templars right now, even just two of them, and it likely would not help his case anyway.

What did help was Cassandra giving a different order, sending away the Templars, and getting back into her heated debate with Chancellor Roderick. Aeyin watched them talk, tuning out the conversation again and just watching her tear into this man like he was nothing. Really, Aeyin felt bad for the guy. He seemed like a jerk but one who was trying to do his job. More active than some Chantry folk he’d met. At least he wasn’t as snakey as Petrice had been.

“The Breach is stable but it is still a threat. I won’t ignore it.” Cassandra hissed at the man, and it was one of the first things that really caught Hawke’s notice - that damn Breach was still there?

He groaned loudly, “That thing’s still there? Uuuuuugh. Is there a new plan to close it yet? I thought I did everything I could to close it. I’m halfdead and it barely stabilized the thing?” This was not good news.

Roderick turned on him, eyes narrowed, “Yet you live. A convenient result in so far as you’re concerned.”

Aeyin stared at him, blinking slowly, “Not really - there’s a hole in the sky of the world I live in and people want me dead. That’s not convenient at all.”

“Have a care, Chancellor, the Breach is not the only threat we face.” Cassandra seemed to have the lovely ability to growl a phrase like ‘have a care’ through gritted teeth and still sound way less antagonistic than most folks. That was quite nice of her, actually.

Leliana joined the fray now, causing Aeyin to jump a bit - he’d forgotten she was even present. “Someone was behind the explosion at the Conclave, someone Most Holy did not expect. Perhaps they died with the others - or have Allies who yet live.”

A guilty twist formed in Aeyin’s gut. Before he’d seen the ruins of the Temple itself, he knew who his mind had jumped to immediately out of worry when he’d first heard about it. It was a horrid thought to have but he’d still thought it. But no, that was nothing like the Chantry explosion had been, and it was certainly not the same kind of situation. Leliana knew of their associations but…she didn’t likely know that Anders was possibly still alive. Most of his friends didn’t even know - though they all suspected, he was sure.

Putting the thoughts aside, Aeyin watched the little barking competition till he himself was brought up once more. This was at least, not the worst shouting match he’d been dragged into. Wasn’t even in the top ten, really.

“I heard the voices in the Temple. The Divine called to him for help.” Cassandra sounded so sure of herself. If it weren’t himself, Aeyin could have argued that point - just because she’d called him didn’t mean he was actually an ally - but how earnest she was about this was touching.

Roderick had a more practical - if detrimental to Hawke’s life - viewpoint. “So his survival, that thing on his hand - all a coincidence?”

“Providence. The Maker sent him to us in our darkest hour.” the Seeker’s gaze turned to Aeyin’s and her words were so sincere that it hurt. It hurt so damn much. All he could remember was the way Sebastian had said the same thing to him, looked at him just the same way, so long ago.

Maker’s breath, he hoped not. He did not have a good track record when it came to helping. Aeyin looked away from her, the knot in his gut returning. All he could bring himself to say in the face of that faith was, “So you’ve changed your mind about me, then?”

Cassandra’s tone was lighter, but still so earnest, “I was wrong. Perhaps I still am.” her voice softened for just a moment, then came back full force, “I will not, however, pretend that you were not exactly what we needed when we needed it.” She turned away then, going to get something from a nearby table.

Aeyin tried to recompose himself. This was important, and he couldn’t let his weariness and old wounds distract him. No matter how this felt like falling back into the same old hole he’d been in before.

“The Breach remains, and your mark is still our only hope of closing it.” Leliana’s practicality helped some. She sounded so much less fierce talking to him right then than she had at any other point recently. It was easier to remember the more playful side of her he’d seen once or twice in their brief meetings years ago.

Roderick’s attempt at reasserting authority over the situation was cut off by Cassandra slamming some odd book on the table, a punctuation mark on her position with this matter.

Her tone was so eased, serious but eased, as she pointed to the book and addressed Roderick. “You know what this is, Chancellor? A writ from the Divine, granting us the authority to act. As of this moment, I declare the Inquisition reborn.” She approached the man like a lioness cornering her prey, “We will close the Breach, we will find those responsible and we will restore order, with or without your approval.”

Roderick looked away from her, glancing between their faces, and Aeyin gave him a helpless shrug. He seriously did feel bad for the guy. Roderick gave her a firm gaze but backed off and left the room without another word, which was probably one of the smartest exits Hawke had seen before. Give the man some credit, he was a desk jockey for the clergy, completely out of his element facing down Cassandra here and he was managing it. Could probably give Seneschal Bran a run for his money, if not better - Bran tended to get a bit too much sass in his exits.

With her target gone, Cassandra threw up her hands in frustration and paced away, her ferocity fading as quickly as it had come. Leliana, meanwhile, stared at the book placed on the table solemnly and Aeyin looked up at her with confusion. He had no idea what the blazes was going on.

“This is the Divine’s directive: Rebuild the Inquisition of old, find those who will stand against the chaos.” she answered the silent question in Hawke’s eyes, “We aren’t ready. We have no leader, no numbers, and now, no Chantry support.”

“But we have no choice! We must act now.” Cassandra’s attention turned from Leliana to Aeyin himself, “With you at our side.”

The mage’s eyes were wide and he gave a slow blink, “What’s the ‘Inquisition of Old’? What does that even mean?” he was not looking forward to just joining some crazy mage hunting thing, that was for sure, even if their first order was the damn Breach.

Leliana tried to explain, “It preceded the Chantry. People who banded together to restore order in a world gone mad.” That…didn’t help much, honestly.

“After, they laid down their banner and formed the Templar order. But the Templars have lost their way.” Cassandra added. She seemed such a different person when she wasn’t shouting down opposition or interrogating someone.

Aeyin sighed, “You can say that again.” he grumbled - lost their way was putting it lightly when it came to Templars.

“We need those who can do what must be done united under a single banner once more.” the passion returned to Cass’s voice at that.

Scraping the marked hand back through his long dark hair, Aeyin let out a heavy breath. “I don’t know if we have the same definitions of order or what is or isn’t what must be done, but at the moment, there’s a hole in the sky and a mark on my hand that seems to be the only key we have to closing it. I want to help make this right in whatever way I can.” He held out his right hand to Cassandra, just as she was holding out hers to him.

“Help us fix this, before it’s too late.” she agreed.

Aeyin grasped her hand quickly and gave a wry smile, glancing to Leliana, “Sister Nightengale can probably tell you, asking my help is generally a mixed blessing, but I’ll do my best.” He let go of Cassandra’s hand, moving to grasp the edge of the table after, supporting his weight with it. His energy was running low already.

Leliana stifled a small laugh behind her hand, “You could say that. I rather think your track record isn’t terrible, all things considered.”

The Seeker cocked her head to the side, peering at them oddly. “What is so funny? Sister Leliana, I was not aware - you knew him?” Her brows were already narrowing.

Aeyin stared at her, the sudden realization hitting him. Oh no. No one had informed Cassandra who he was, had they? That hadn’t come out yet. All the whispers outside about him - either they hadn’t heard or he’d been mistaken about their context. He felt dizzy, suddenly.

“She…really doesn’t know, does she? I thought someone would have mentioned it by now…” the pit of his gut was dropping once more. Cassandra had been defending him to the Chancellor, but would she have if she knew who he was? This was not good. “I thought you knew, Maker’s breath, I’m sorry, Seeker…”

Leliana gave a soft cough. “What’s done is done. You should return to your lodgings to rest, you look unsteady. I shall fill Cassandra in.”

“You had better.” the growl had returned to the Seeker’s voice, but she did look at Aeyin carefully, “I agree, you should return to rest. You do not yet look recovered from your last bout with the Breach.”

By this point, Aeyin didn’t have the strength to argue. He turned and stumbled his way back towards the house he’d been staying in. Varric was still seated inside, hopping up as soon as he re-entered. The dwarf opened his mouth to ask something or another, but stopped on seeing Aeyin’s face and instead just backed off, muttering something about hitting up the tavern for a little and letting Hawke get his rest.

Soon as Varric left, Aeyin toed off the boots he’d apparently been sleeping in, tugged off his shirt and collapsed face-first into bed. All sound deadened around him and he fell asleep immediately.

What he woke to was the sound of a scuffle in the next area over and immediately his eyes snapped open, pushing himself up in bed and looking for the source. What was going on? Where was he? What was this?

The first voice he heard was a furious Cassandra. “You knew where Hawke was!” she snarled.

“You’re damned right, I did!” Varric’s voice and Aeyin was on his feet in an instant. No, no, this was bad. Varric did not belong in a scuffle with the Seeker.

“You conniving little shit!” his eyes trained in on the fight, catching Cassandra swinging a hit at the dwarf, only for Varric to duck under her and try to get away, around a table.

Rushing to the other side of a table, Varric spoke fast, “You kidnapped me! You interrogated me! What did you expect?”

Aeyin got to his feet much faster than he might have otherwise, long legs getting under him much more quickly with Varric in danger. His feet hit the ground in the middle of the room, same time as his spell did - being a force mage had its benefits and forcing the two away from each other quickly was definitely a use for it.

“THAT’S ENOUGH!” he shouted, standing up to full height and facing the charging tigress before him with wild eyes. It didn’t matter that she could probably break Aeyin in half, despite his height and bulk. It didn’t matter that this was someone he generally liked so far. She was threatening his family and he wouldn’t stand for it.

Cassandra looked at him, and for a moment, something registered in her eyes. It wasn’t intimidation but - recognition? Surprise? He wasn’t sure, but also didn’t care at this point. Still, her anger returned full force, even with him in the middle.

“Of course you would take his side!” she snapped.

“I said ENOUGH! This isn’t a matter of bloody sides! You’re trying to beat up an unarmed dwarf, that’s bad enough. Him being my best friend on top of it is another matter.” Aeyin snarled. “I don’t know what’s going on, or what he told you, but that doesn’t excuse roughing him up.”

At the very least she backed off a bit, calmer, but was still clearly furious. “We needed someone to lead this Inquisition.” she explained, still looking at him with suspicious eyes, “First, Leliana and I searched for the Hero of Ferelden, but she had vanished. Then we looked for you.” The way her gaze pointed at Aeyin so much more then would have been more unnerving were it in any other situation.

The mage crossed his arms over his chest, still only peripherally aware he wasn’t fully dressed or armed or how dangerous this situation was.

Cassandra continued, “We thought it all connected but no. It was just you.” This time she turned back to Varric, gaze burning, “You kept him from us.”

“You certainly didn’t act like someone who wanted his help, Seeker.” Varric snapped, having moved aside a bit after Hawke’s interruption.

This time, there was a hitch in Cassandra’s voice, “Hawke would have properly been at the Conclave - if anyone could have saved Most Holy-”

“Varric’s not responsible for what happened at the Conclave!” Aeyin cut in, putting out an arm in case he had to hold her back from Varric again. He could feel the pain, the guilt in her voice, and he knew it all too well.

“I was protecting my friend!” seeing Varric actually upset this way hurt so much more than any damage a fight could. Whatever had happened that had kept Hawke out of the loop, whatever lies had been told, they’d been with the intent of protecting him, and here he was, right in the middle of it anyway.

Cassandra glared past Aeyin at the dwarf, “Varric is a liar, Hawke. A snake. Even after the Conclave, with you here, he kept things secret.”

“He’s with us now. We’re on the same side.” the dwarf pointed out, already annoyed, interjecting before Aeyin could stop Cassandra’s insults.

“We all know whose side you’re on, Varric. It will never be the Inquisition’s.” the words held so much venom.

The mage grit his teeth, fist clenching, “Shut. Up.” his voice had turned icy and he glared at her, striding closer once again, “You have no idea what you are talking about, and I’m sick of hearing you disparage one of the best people I have ever known. Attacking him won’t help anything.”

“Exactly.” Varric added, but stiffened at the look Aeyin shot him.

“Don’t think I’m not ticked at you too, Varric.” As if he didn’t bloody know what this meant. If Varric had been lying to Cassandra, it’d been about him. It’d been to keep him away from her search - a search he hadn’t even known was going on. And if Varric knew, they all probably fucking knew.

The dwarf let out a frustrated huff but backed off, “I understand.” he grumbled, putting up his hands in mock-surrender and heading towards the door.

Cassandra turned away, walking to a nearby table and resting her weight on it. “In his own way, he did bring you, it seems. Late, perhaps, but you are with us.”

Once more Aeyin glanced at his friend, gaze scanning Varric’s features for any sign of an injury from the fight before he’d woken. If he’d been in here when it started, it meant he’d probably been keeping an eye on Aeyin while he was unconscious, so hopefully the fight hadn’t gone on longer than he’d seen.

Varric moved, striding towards the door, refusing to face either of them. At the door, he stopped, turning to shoot Cassandra a glare. “You know what I think? If Hawke had come to the temple earlier, he’d be dead too.” As he was leaving, Aeyin barely heard the second part, muttered under his breath. “You people have done enough to him.”

Once more, the man sighed and ran a hand through his dark curls. It hurt, both having been lied to that way, and also feeling like he’d let his friends down and made their work useless.

“I…believed him.” Cassandra’s voice cut through his thoughts. Softer, more shocked and broken. “He spun his story for me and I swallowed it. If I’d just explained what was at stake - if I’d just made him understand…”

Her voice held that same hurt and self-doubt Aeyin was feeling, and he could certainly understand that frustration. The Seeker moved away from the table she stood at, taking up a seat on the chair Varric had abandoned, since it was nearest.

“But I didn’t, did I? I didn’t explain why we needed you. I’m such a fool.” she said the words with such defeat, it was such a change from the conviction of her anger.

Aeyin knelt on the floor before her, looking up at Cassandra with a gentle smile. “No. You’re not. You were just mistaken, it happens. Given how my friends are, they probably had an entire plan worked out in advance to keep me as far out of your grasp as possible. And even if you had explained, it’s not fully likely any of them would have trusted you enough to believe your intentions.”

She looked at him oddly, almost smiling, “I want you to know, I have no regrets. Maybe if we had found you then, or the Hero of Ferelden, the Maker wouldn’t have needed to send you the way he did. But he did.” she looked thoughtful for a moment, “I do not know if I would have believed your intentions quite the same way I might now, having met you, having heard Varric’s story. I do not know how it will end, but I would not have it any other way.”

Aeyin backed off, standing once more and giving Cassandra the space to stand again as well. Looking down the mage noticed he had conducted this whole business barefoot and shirtless, hair an entire mess and barely awake. Slowly, a soft chuckle left him.

Cassandra shot Hawke a dirty look for a moment. “What is so funny?”

“I just realized I tried to stare down a pissed off warrior dressed like this. I’m amazed if I’m making anything other than a terrible impression of myself.” he gestured to his attire, his regular slouch back in place.

A smile smile ghosted across Cassandra’s features, “You did manage to make quite an impression that way. I will admit - I would not expect most mages to try that with me.”

“I don’t know what you’ve been told, but any statements about me being an idiot? Completely true.” Aeyin bounced his brows and gave a playful smile.

The Seeker managed a small laugh, nodding, before she glanced away and a different sort of smile crept onto her face, “You are…taller than I had imagined. I had not quite noticed it fully till then. Though it is probably because you slouch.” her eyes shot back to him and she made a light shove at Aeyin’s stomach with her gloved fist, “Why do you do that? It is bad posture.”

“Because I am a lazy ass and I look way less like a giant magey threat when I’m not looming over people.” he chuckled and moved away from her, putting up his hands to guard himself, though it was all in fun. “Why don’t you let me get dressed. I’m sure we’ve got plenty of other business to get up to.”

Immediately, she straightened, face resuming its serious expression, though much less angry than before. “We do. Now that you are awake, you need to meet the advisors of the Inquisition. We have some initial business to get through, and we need to discuss the plan for the Breach.”

“Well, you assemble them. I’ll put on clothes and go check on Varric, and meet you at the Chantry.” Aeyin grinned and pointed to the door, already looking for his shirt. He was way too used to sleeping without one these days, especially when he was with Fenris.

Cassandra left him to his task, and soon as Aeyin was presentable, he darted out of the house in search of Varric. He found the dwarf looking way more pensive than he’d seen him in years, staring deeply into a large bonfire in the middle of the town. Wandering over, Aeyin stood casually near him, noting the somber glance sent his way, and the utter silence.

“Soooooo…Cassandra’s calmed down now? I think you can let Bianca relax for a bit?” he suggested with a smile.

“Define ‘calmed down’ for me in terms of who or what she’s punching right now?” the humor of the joke felt hollow, and it broke Aeyin’s heart to hear Varric like that.

Still, the mage grinned at him, “I still have all my limbs! That’s a plus. Better than if I’d tried that stunt on Aveline or Fenris.” It didn’t seem to help Varric’s mood much.

The dwarf looked away from him. “You don’t have to make jokes like that, Hawke. I know…I know I messed up.” once more he made a frustrated huffing sound. “This - this wasn’t supposed to turn out this way. You, the Inquisition, none of it! We all agreed but - this is my fault. I’m the one who came up with the plan. I’m the one who lied to you, and to Cassandra.”

“You did, yup.” Hawke put his hands into his pockets and stared at the back of Varric’s head, waiting for him to continue. He was a mouthy sort, and he’d never leave things at just that.

Turning back around, Varric glared up at Aeyin, “Dammit, Hawke! You always take these things so calmly! Like - like you aren’t even mad and of course you’re mad! You trusted us and we lied to you. I lied to you. But you’ll act like it wasn’t a big deal. Sure, you say you’re upset with me, but you don’t act it. You didn’t even get angry with Blondie! You let people walk all over you and just blow it off like it’s nothing! You go from being a hated, interrogated prisoner right into helping and joining up some army of the faithful like it’s your responsibility to fix everyone else’s problems, just like you always do.”

Dragging a hand down his face, pulling at the skin under his eyes for a moment, Aeyin stared away before looking back at his friend with a shrug. “What else am I supposed to do, Varric? Getting mad and pushing people away isn’t going to help anyone, especially when they’re trying their best.”

“But forgiving everyone instantly does nothing to help you! You aren’t just required to fix everything at the expense of yourself!” Varric stomped his foot and shook his head, trying to push off the emotion and just settle back again, “All I wanted was to keep you safe, just once. Keep you from taking on more people’s problems or more people’s blame for things you that weren’t your fault…I know I need to do better. I’m sorry…”

Aeyin reached down, placing a hand on his friend’s shoulder, only for the touch to be brushed off. He drew his hand back, putting it in his pocket instead, and looked away once more. “It’s why the others agreed to this isn’t it? It was hard to get them to agree to a night to play cards even, but a whole scheme to deceive a high ranking Chantry official working for the Divine?”

Varric sighed, “Yeah. When I got the intel that the Seeker was coming, I got everyone together and we worked out a plan. Isabela was to drag you and the elf somewhere else for a while, they’d both make sure you were busy with something or another, and any word from Kirkwall was kept hushed up. Aveline stonewalled any information on you and Daisy played dumb and they filtered anyone who came asking about you right to me. Even Sebastian made a point to get far away from Kirkwall and be out of contact for a while so his conscience wouldn’t tempt him to give us up, which for him is pretty…” The dwarf rubbed at his eye, in some attempt to try and bury whatever emotions he was working through.

“That’s a lot from him, doing anything to defy the Chantry is a big thing for him.” Aeyin agreed, “Overall, pretty solid planning, I guess. I just…I wish you’d let me have some sort of say in this. But then…I’m just as fucking bad really.”

Varric glanced up at him, with a raised brow, “You? Oh, stop. What could you possibly do that’d be even on that level.” The mirth was returning to his voice, at least.

Leaning forward, hands on his lips, Aeyin grinned slyly, “Didn’t you have two people keeping an eye on me?”

“Well, shit.” Varric couldn’t hide a chuckle at that, “You’re right, we did. And you gave them the slip, you ass. The elf is going to be pissed.”

Straightening up, Aeyin chuckled again. “Varric, that’s his default state some days. Anyway, I promised to meet Cassandra at the Chantry, so I shouldn’t try her patience any more than I already have. Just…take it easy, okay?” He reached down and mussed the dwarf’s hairstyle a little before heading off with quick strides.

Actually meeting Cassandra in the Chantry, she seemed in better spirits as they entered. Aeyin had started fidgeting with his sleeve, having ditched gloves since it felt wrong just wearing one but having one on the Mark-side felt weirder. It was going to take a while to get used to.

Her eyes followed his motions, “Does it trouble you?”

“It’s bloody weird and I’m not used to it yet - not sure if I want to get used to it, really. It didn’t close the Breach and that kind of sucks, but at least it doesn’t hurt anymore.” he mumbled with a shrug, leaving his sleeve alone.

“You did everything we asked of you.”

“Still didn’t work.” Aeyin smiled at her anyway.

Cassandra seemed determined to make the best of this anyway, “What’s important is your Mark is now stable, as is the Breach. You have given us time and Solas believes a second attempt might succeed - provided the Mark has more power. The same level of power used to open the Breach in the first place. That is not easy to come by.”

Aeyin snorted, “Sure, let’s shove magic at something we don’t understand. Wouldn’t be the first time, won’t be the last.”

“Hold on to that sense of humor.” she shook her head, a smile twisting at her features, and continued towards the main room in the Chantry.

Inside, three people stood on the far side of a table with two huge maps stretched over it. The one all the way to his left was Sister Leliana, still in her strange purple hood and chainmail tunic. The one in the middle was Cullen, the former Knight Captain of Kirkwall, now decked out in drapery and some large red fur thing that looked like a great mane or maybe a weird pillow. The last, and most unfamiliar of the three, was a medium sized woman with a shiny shirt and puffed sleeves, holding a board full of papers with a candle and an inkwell perched precariously at the top.

“You’ve met Commander Cullen, leader of the Inquisition’s forces.” Cassandra seemed to be trying to handle introductions, but starting there of all places.

“Yes.” he and the Commander spoke in unison, a gruff sort of answer but to have both done it at the same time had Aeyin grinning and Cullen trying to stifle a smirk.

“I’m pleased you survived.” Cullen seemed to be attempting polite small talk so as not to leave Cassandra completely at a loss in her introductions. Even if being pleased Hawke lived through anything seemed like a silly thing to say.

Cassandra moved along, gesturing now to the shiny woman on the end, “This is Lady Josephine Montilyet, our Ambassador and chief diplomat.”

Aeyin smiled at her, even as Josephine’s soft Antivan accented tones stuttered on part of her greeting, “You are…even taller than I’d heard.” her eyes narrowed and she looked across the table at Sister Leliana, pointedly. Quickly, she composed herself, “It’s a pleasure to meet you at last.”

He glanced back at Cassandra and muttered under his breath, “See, this is why I slouch.” It got him a roll of his eyes for his trouble, right before she moved on with the introductions.

“And of course, you know Sister Leliana,”

Leliana spoke up, smiling warmly, “My position here involves a degree of…” even as she was trying to find the right word, Aeyin was catching on and nodding to her. She was in charge of scouts and he’d hung out with enough people to know just what her job probably entailed.

Still, Cassandra finished the sentence for her, barreling through towards business, “She is our spymaster.” Ah the wonders of spending time with a no-nonsense honest sort again.

The strain on Leliana’s patience was audible in her tone, “Yes…tactfully put, Cassandra.”

Hawke waved at the group, giving a friendly smile, but otherwise just let the damn business get underway. Its not like he hadn’t sort-of greeted everyone already anyway.

Cassandra seemed to get the hint, “I mentioned that your Mark needs more power to close the Breach for good.”

“Which means we must approach the rebel mages for help.” Leliana had moved from the soft smiles at greeting back into the terrifying countenance she’d had of late. Had she always been so scary when handling business?

It seemed, that, at least, spurred Cullen into speaking. “And I still disagree. The Templars could serve just as well.” he glared at Leliana as he said this, voice gruff.

Aeyin raised an eyebrow and snorted softly, “Definitely not just because you don’t think of mages as people.” he mumbled, under his breath but Cullen could still catch it, glancing over and giving Hawke a sour look.

“We need power, Commander. Enough magic poured into that Mark-” Cassandra took a deep breath and tried to bring reason into things once more.

“Might destroy us all.” Cullen interrupted, “Templars could suppress the Breach, weaken it so-”

“Pure speculation.” Leliana shot back.

Resting his hands on the table, Aeyin rolled his eyes, “Suppression is something you’re good at.” he grumbled. This felt utterly stupid. At least the ‘power the Mark so it can close the thing, which is an amped up version of the thing that sort of worked before’ at least made some amount of sense.

Cullen glared at him more strongly now, but kept his attention on Leliana, too used to Hawke for this. “I was a Templar, I know what they’re capable of.”

“That isn’t really a vote in their favor.” Aeyin pointed out, “I mean, unless we want to threaten to make the Breach Tranquil or beat it into submission.”

This time Cullen turned to face Aeyin properly, temper starting to flare and nose wrinkling as he leaned on the table. “Are you just feeling hostile today, Champion? Because if you want to sort this out, now is not the time or place!”

“I’m not going to play nice about the Order’s faults, Cullen, especially not when what you’re proposing does make sense and you’re growling down someone who is being reasonable. I know you’ve seen a damn lot of awful things mages have done, but you’re the one who sounds childish here!” Hawke snapped at him, leaning forward so they were glaring into each other’s eyes.

Josephine’s voice cut through, firm, but not raising her volume above them. “Unfortunately, neither group will even speak to us yet.” It was clear how good she was at her job of Ambassador. “The Chantry has denounced the Inquisition - and you, specifically.”

Aeyin sighed, shaking his head. He stood back up, crossing his arms over his chest, but not quite looking at Cullen again. Being opposite him again here, it brought back all sorts of bad feelings. One of the worst times of his life and all the feelings from it just welling up again, and what was going on was not helping.

“The Chantry being out for my blood is certainly nothing new. Did they denounce me for anything specific this time, or just the same old?” Hawke glanced across the table at Cullen, despite his address to Josephine.

The Commander had stood up once more, his composure returning. “Shouldn’t they be busy arguing over who is going to become Divine?” he asked Josephine, tone still rough but less actively angry. The spat was put aside, for now.

Josephine herself looked to Hawke, and he met her eyes again quickly. “Some are calling you the “Herald of Andraste”. And that frightens the Chantry - especially with your…reputation. The remaining clerics have declared it blasphemy - and we heretics for harboring you.”

“Chancellor Roderick’s doing, no doubt.” Cassandra grumbled.

“You only think it’s him because you don’t know Hawke that well.” Cullen suggested, “He could offend half the Grand Clerics just by breathing.” There was an attempt at humor there, though intermingled with some quiet frustration.

“You are not wrong there.” Aeyin agreed, shooting Cullen a slight smile. For all he disagreed heavily with the man on certain things, for all being here was bringing up awful memories, there was a reason he’d generally had tolerable relations with him over their time in Kirkwall.

Josephine seemed set on her point, “It limits our options. Currently, approaching the Mages or Templars for help his out of the question.” 

“Just how am I the ‘Herald of Andraste’ anyway?” Aeyin asked, raising a brow. This was way more Sebastian’s line than his.

Cassandra spoke, that utter earnestness and belief showing through again, “People saw what you did at the Temple, how you stopped the Breach from growing. They have also heard about the woman seen in the Rift when we first found you. They believe that was Andraste.”

“Even if we tried to stop that view from spreading-” Leliana seemed eager to justify this business, but Cassandra didn’t let her finish.

“Which we have not.”

Leliana looked about ready to smack Cassandra for the interjections, “The point is, everyone is talking about you.” Once more, her focus turned back to Aeyin, rather than violence against the Seeker.

“That’s quite the title isn’t it? That’s certainly an upgrade from Champion,” Cullen suggested, eyes meeting Hawke’s more freley this time, “How do you feel about that?”

“Like a jackass whose brother is going to kill him for getting even more attention?” Aeyin grinned and shrugged widely. Carver was going to throw such a fit about this. “I don’t really know how I should feel.”

Cullen chuckled, “The Chantry has decided that for you, it seems.”

“People are desperate for a sign of hope. For some, you’re that sign.” Leliana suggested.

Josephine flowed smoothly from Leliana’s point, rather than interrupting it, “And to others, a symbol of everything that’s gone wrong.”

. “That’s my life in a nutshell. So is there anything I can do in the meantime while we’re sorting out this whole no one’s going to talk to us to help close the Breach, thing?”

This time Leliana was quick on the ball, and he vaguely wondered if her whole demeanor prior had been buttering him up just for this, “There is something you can do. A Chantry cleric by the name of Mother Giselle has asked to speak to you. She is not far, and knows those involved far better than I. Her assistance could be invaluable.”

Hawke’s eyes narrowed and his brow quirked again, “Why would someone from the Chantry help a declared heretic?” Please, please, don’t let her be another Petrice. He could not take another Petrice.

“I understand she is a reasonable sort. Perhaps she does not agree with her sisters? You will find Mother Giselle tending to the wounded in the Hinterlands, near Redcliffe.”

“We need to secure a position in the area first.” Cullen pointed out, shaking his head. “It will do us no good for him to go talk to her if the area is the middle of a firefight between the warring factions. We run too much risk of her being killed - or Hawke being killed - before any discussion can even be had.”

Josephine made a cheerful suggestion about recruiting Agents for the Inquisition to Aeyin, as Leliana and Cullen once more took to quietly debating how to scout and secure an area. Cassandra seemed intent on getting them to think of other things to work on in the meantime as well, and it all just seemed so busy and disorganized. And all at once, Aeyin Hawke’s mind clicked back into high gear and he was handling tasks with his usual team.

“Right, well, get on at least scouting the area you said Mother Giselle can be found, Leliana. Cullen, if we’ve got any soldiers that can back up her scouts in case the area really is a proper war zone, get them ready. Josephine, I’m sure you’ve got plenty of things to do handling our reputation and whatever backlash we’re getting from the Chantry. I’ll keep my eyes out for agents or any of that, but for now, I’m going to go actually get my bearings on Haven and what we have. We probably have plenty that needs done with a forming organization, and if we are going to take a trip anywhere near Redcliffe, it’d be a good chance to get supplies, so I’ll see about getting lists of anything we should be on the lookout for. Oh! And we should probably try to find out the location of any rifts in the area we should close when we’re scouting, by the by. There’s bound to be a few and leaving demon spewy things in the middle of populace areas isn’t good.”

The room went silent, and everyone stared at him for a moment, blinking slowly. A self-conscious twinge hit Aeyin hard and he bit his lip, smiling sheepishly.

“Whoops, there I go overstepping my boundaries. I’ll just…get out of the way now.”

And quick as he could, the man turned on his heel and strode right out of the Chantry, letting his long legs carry him before the awkwardness could sink in any further.


End file.
